A Newcomer's Guide to the Trappists

History - General

When a person becomes a monk or nun, they become part of a family whose history stretches back sixteen hundred years! In the wind-swept deserts of fourth century Egypt, on sunny hills in sixth century Italy, and in grassy meadows of Medieval France, monks and nuns have prayed, studied, and worked together in joy and peace offering the world a glimpse of life in eternity. View the following links for answers to your questions about our monastic family's long and fascinating history.

What is the origin of monastic life?

It is difficult to say when “monastic life” began because monks are almost as old as the human race. We know that in places such as India, China, Tibet and Japan, individuals intensely devoted to their religious beliefs separated themselves from towns and led very disciplined lives. We know that, about a century before Christ was born there was a Jewish sect called the “Essenes” whose lifestyle might be described as monastic and who influenced John the Baptist and other of Jesus' disciples. So, in a way, “monks” are people who have been around for ages and, while they professed belief in different religions, are consistently people who are seized by very intense moral and spiritual aspirations and want to live these very concretely. But monastic life in the church is not the simple continuation of any of these earlier types of monasticism. Finally, it is the person, teaching, and actual example of Jesus Christ that gave birth to a completely new inspiration that is called “Christian monasticism.” We know that Jesus said to the young man: “If you want to be perfect, then go – sell all that you have, give the proceeds to the poor and come, follow me.” (Matt 19:21) Jesus also spoke of those who “make themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matt 19:12). By these words, Jesus himself has inspired men and women ever since to show their love for Him by imitating the way he lived in poverty and chastity. St. Paul also encouraged men and women to embrace a life of poverty and chastity though he knew most would marry and would have ownership of things. (1 Cor 7:7and 30)

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How did Christian monastic life actually get started?

Christian monastic life, as we know it today, first appears in about 271 A.D. with the sudden conversion of St. Antony in a church in lower Egypt. Inspired by a passage from Matthew to be anxious about nothing and sell everything he possessed to follow Christ, Antony lived alone, dedicating himself to prayer and manual work. Others had done this before, but Antony, over the course of his life (almost one hundred years), inspired a movement which resulted in thousands establishing themselves as monks in the deserts of Egypt. For the first 120 years or so, after Antony's fame began to spread, the “fathers of the desert” lived alone or in small groups. Their lives were marked by extreme austerity which required remarkable psychological and physical strength. So, in its beginnings, Christian monasticism was comprised mainly of “hermits”, monks who were solitaries living only for God, forgotten by the world except for occasional pilgrims who would seek them out in their caves and huts, and throwing themselves at their feet asked: “Abba – give me a word of wisdom.” But in the 4th century a great change occurred and monks began gathering together in communities, sometimes comprised of hundreds of monks.

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What were the first monastic communities like?

The person who first gathered monks into large, organized communities was St. Pachomius,(286-346). After living as a hermit for a while, this holy monk was called by God to be the father of several large monasteries housing hundreds of monks. His followers embraced chastity and poverty and also obedience – not that of a single monk to his “Abba” or spiritual father, but to the head of a community and to other community members. This was a new form of obedience and became the pattern in monasteries for many centuries afterward. Unlike hermits, the monks prayed together and also worked in cooperation with one another. Monasteries became so huge they were like small towns with monks divided into “houses” of thirty or forty monks, grouped according to their skills as tailors, bakers, gardeners, etc. The success of Pachomius' monasteries caused the movement to spread outside Egypt to Palestine and Syria. Monasteries were also built in holy places around the city of Jerusalem. Sometimes monks lived as hermits but in close proximity to one another in a loose community structure called a “lavra”. These monks might live in huts or caves that were visited by a holy man who was spiritual father for the group who would come together for meals and to celebrate eucharist.

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How did we learn so much about the first monks?

We know a lot about the early history of monasticism because people at the time wrote down accounts of meeting monks. Some of these writers were monks themselves describing the very holy men who were their spiritual fathers. Then there were pilgrims, men and women, who sought out the hermits living in caves in the deserts of Egypt to ask them questions about God and how to be saved. Some of these meetings were recorded in writing. Especially popular were what are called “sayings of the desert fathers”. These are very short sayings which are easy to remember and teach us important lessons about life. For example, a hermit once said: “Too much company – and you lose sight of yourself, but retreat into solitude and you will meet yourself again.” Or again, and old monk was once heard to say: “A dog is better than I am. He loves and does not judge.” Finally, near the end of the 4th century, there settled in the Egyptian desert a monk named “Evagrius” who was a scholar and a philosopher, much better educated than most monks. He collected many of the sayings of the hermits, and began to think how they might all be put together into an over all philosophy of monastic life. He wrote his reflections in books which were studied by monks and nuns for centuries afterwards, and which are still treasured as sources of monastic wisdom today. As a result of all these writings we know, not only what the external circumstances of the lives of these monks were, but we know what they were thinking and feeling in relation to God.

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What were Medieval monks like?

There may be a tendency for us to romanticize medieval monks and medieval society in general. It was, indeed, the age of faith when all Europe was Christian, and monasteries were bursting with vocations—600 monks at Rievaulx. It was the age of saints such as Bernard, Francis, Clare, Dominic. Yet, like any period of history, the Middle Ages had their underside, and in any case the great age of faith is not likely to return in our pluralistic world.
How many of us could tolerate daily life in medieval monasteries without the amenities we now take for granted? I suspect that we would consider their lifestyle extremely deprived, yet it was no worse and maybe a little better than the lifestyle of the surrounding population. Consider the common physical austerities such as excessive cold in winter or heat in summer, limited privacy and personal space, a rather strict silence that prevented them from knowing one another very well, primitive conditions of hygiene, plain and rough food with little variety, reduced sensory stimulation apart from nature.
These austerities, however, had benefits if one could adapt to them. Medieval monks were practically forced by the external limitations of their life to turn inward, to seek God within their hearts, to feed their minds and hearts on the word of God that was read or preached to them, to find beauty in the chant or architecture, to live by the Eucharist, to focus their attention on the one thing necessary. Those who survived such a life were transformed as in a new creation; those who could not cope either left or else stayed and endured.

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About This Web Site

Our website intends to answer the needs of men and women discerning a call from God to a be a Trappist monk or nun. If what you see and read here awakens in you a desire to follow Christ in the silence and solitude of a Trappist monastery, know that this is God working in your heart in response to our prayers. Please contact us and be assured that we are ready to offer you our love and assistance in your discernment process.